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Editorial: TFD chiefs, commanders doing well

"I'm pleased there's a resolution," Fire Chief Greg Bailey said of an agreement to raise base pay for nine management positions at the department.

A solution to the issue of overtime pay earned by high-ranking supervisors in the Topeka Fire Department was going to involve money — more of it.

That’s often the way such things are handled — a higher base pay in exchange for reduced or eliminated overtime pay.

But the city’s decision on base salaries for its shift commanders and battalion chiefs appears to be very generous, many would probably say overly generous. Put The Topeka Capital-Journal in the latter group.

The overtime issue arose last year when The Capital-Journal reported the fire department’s shift commanders and battalion chiefs had earned, collectively, more than $145,000 in overtime during 2012. Those are management positions exempt from overtime pay by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

Being exempt doesn’t mean the city couldn’t pay the overtime. It just means that by law, the city wasn’t required to pay it. Topeka wasn’t violating any law by paying the overtime, but several other fire departments in the region indicated people in management positions aren’t paid for overtime hours.

The private sector generally recognizes the FLSA and management people work the hours necessary, without overtime pay, to meet their responsibilities.

Topeka’s solution to the overtime issue was substantial increases in base pay for both ranks. The higher pay doesn’t quite match what the commanders and chiefs were earning with overtime, but it’s close enough to give one pause.

Now, battalion chiefs will earn $90,292 in base pay and shift commanders will make $94,796. That brings the hourly rate for a battalion chief to 10 percent higher than that of the most senior TFD captain, and shift commanders up 5 percent from that mark.

City officials said the increases also dealt with the compaction issue — subordinates making almost as much as their supervisors. However, compaction can be created if the subordinates earn substantial overtime. And overtime hours can be easily created when an enterprise has positions and shifts that must be filled and a limited number of people to fill them.We’re not suggesting any members of the fire department created overtime unnecessarily, but it wouldn’t be difficult.

It will be interesting to see how much overtime battalion chiefs and shift commanders work now that there’s no financial reward for the extra hours.